If you've got a smartphone based on Samsung's Galaxy S platform (the Galaxy S itself, Captivate, or Vibrant), do we have a treat for you! "ICSSGS" is a pure AOSP Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for Galaxy S phones. The developers underscored the pure-AOSP nature of the ROMs: "We did not add any modifications unless they were absolutely required to make it work correctly." Currently three of the Galaxy S family have ICSSGS ROMs: - Samsung Captivate - Samsung Galaxy S i9000 - Samsung Vibrant The latter may be of particular interest to those who lost CyanogenMod support when the "E911 bug" was ...

Back in July, AT&T laid-out its plan for delivering Gingerbread updates to all its Android models released in 2011. There was one 2010 model that also made the cut: the Samsung Captivate. After an entirely too long wait, the captivate is finally receiving its software, providing users an official route to Gingerbread. Long before AT&T made that announcement about its future updates, we'd been seeing progress towards Gingerbread for the Captivate. It saw CyanogenMod 7 support start arriving back in the spring, and summer brought with it numerous leaks of in-progress Gingerbread builds. ...

Back in June there was an Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread ROM Leak for the AT&T Samsung Captivate and more recently the phone saw its Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread ROM leaked to the public thanks to XDA Developers. As you can see in the screenshot above, it's the latest Google platform and you can also check out the Kernel version. If you understand the risks and still decide to give it a shot, head over to the forums at XDA Developers in order to download. Make sure to read the instructions as well as user feedback before you take the plunge. Source: XDA Developers Via: PhanDroid

If you're looking to pick up an Android on AT&T that's running Gingerbread, your options are pretty limited; you've got the HTC Status, Motorola's Atrix is getting its update currently, and now the carrier has access to Samsung's Nexus S. That's progress, sure, but we're in the second half of 2011, where the coming approach of Ice Cream Sandwich is nearer to us in time than last year's release of Gingerbread. If you've been stressing over if your Android will ever be getting an update of its own, the carrier is speaking up with some assurances, letting subscribers know that all the ...

Whether you're a new smartphone user or an experienced one you most definitely heard, seen or experienced a bricked device. It's a state in which your phone gets once all those flashes and hacks you apply go wrong. Sometimes you can recover but sometimes you just get an expensive paper weight. One-click Unbrick is an application which promises to restore your bricked Galaxy S smartphone (or variant) as easy as clicking a button. The application is advertised to be compatible with all Samsung devices which use Odin and runs on Linux, Windows and Macs. To see the list of instructions and ...

Earlier this year Apple considered that Samsung is ripping it off by copying its iPhone design and applying it to a couple of its own smartphones. Cupertino claimed to take a look at Samsung's upcoming models and the Korean company instantly responded demanding the same, plus adding in a couple of patents to raise the stakes. If the original complaint referred to designs of the Samsung Captivate, Continuum, Vibrant, Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Indulge, Mesmerize, Showcase, Fascinate, Nexus S, Gem, Transform, Intercept, and Acclaim smartphones, Apple has amended it to add an additional eleven ...

Samsung saw some leaks of Gingerbread for several of it's Galaxy S series phones several months ago, with no official word at the time of a pending official release. More recently, it was officially announced that Samsung's Galaxy branded smartphones would be receiving an official update to Gingerbread. Several overseas models have already received updates while the USA models have yet to see a leak or official release until today with the first leak of a Gingerbread ROM for the Captivate. SamFirmware, a site well known for posting leaked firmware and other info about Samsung devices ...

Last year's Samsung Galaxy S series of Androids is about to get a shot in the arm, thanks to the the development efforts of the coders working on CyanogenMod. While experimental builds of the custom ROM replacement have existed for the Galaxy S and its carrier-branded cousins, the smartphone hasn't been officially supported by the project. Now it looks like that will finally be changing, starting with AT&T's Captivate getting its first official CyanogenMod nightlies. These nightly builds mark the Captivate's progress towards a stable CM7 release. It won't be making that journey alone, with ...

If you've got an HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Aria, or Samsung Captivate on AT&T, you should soon be receiving notification of an OTA update that will finally enable your phone to install apps from "unknown sources", letting you access Amazon's Appstore or install non-marketplace apps of your choosing. After a long period of restricting its Android users to only the official Google-run Android Market, AT&T announced this spring that it would finally start looking into letting its customers install apps from additional sources. It wasn't clear then if that just meant the carrier would individually ...

If you've set your mind on shopping for a new smartphone this weekend you're lucky because Best Buy announced its offer for free smartphones this Friday and Saturday. You can grab either the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon, BlackBerry Curve 3G on Sprint or Samsung Captivate on AT&T, for free, as part of the promotion bringing back the "Free Phone Friday" and extending it an extra day. The free phones still require new or upgrade activation with two-year agreement on their respective carriers but two Galaxy S variants for free -- not to mention the Curve 3G -- are some great free options. ...

AT&T sees some welcome price drops today, with several mid to high-end smartphones getting reduced. The price drops could signal new devices pending announcement, or perhaps is related to the recently announced AT&T purchase of T-Mobile. For Android devices, we have only the Samsung Captivate seeing a drop at $99.99. BlackBerry checks in with the Torch at $49.99 and the Curve 3G at $29.99. Finally we have two WP7 devices, both at $49.99, the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum. All prices are with a new activation or upgrade on a 2 year service contract and require a minimum $15/mo data plan. The ...

The mileage you end up getting out of your phone can oftentimes depend on the software support it gets, or the lack thereof. Tonight we've got news on a few models that demonstrate all too well how some smartphones thrive at the hands of their carriers and independent developers, while others are hung out to dry. Samsung's Captivate on AT&T finally got a Froyo update last week, but that's only the start of the good news for its owners. Now the phone has its own build of CyanogenMod 7 based on Android 2.3.3 for you to try your hand at installing. This is labeled as just a "test release" but ...

There appears to be some kind of signal jamming going on with AT&T's network in the hotel/casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard. On a recent trip to Las Vegas, NV, I found myself skipping around several hotels. Like any smartphone enthusiast, I ran several speed tests and paid close attention to the general behavior of my device in town, to contrast it with the behavior of AT&T's network back in Southern California. Anywhere in or around "The Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard), the signal strength was great on HSPA, but performance was sub-par. In multiple tests, the best I was able to come out with ...

The first real indication of the Android 2.2 Froyo update for the AT&T Captivate surfaced last week and Wednesday AT&T confirmed the roll-out process to begin as soon as Thursday. And that being said, AT&T did release, as promised, the long waited Froyo update for the Samsung SGH-i897 (aka AT&T Captivate). The platform refresh will bring users Flash support, the ability to install applications to the SD card, performance improvements, Exchange support and more. For a detailed list of changes as well as instructions on how to apply the new software on your AT&T Captivate please follow the ...

Last week we told you about AT&T's Galaxy S smartphone, the Samsung Captivate, getting Froyo, only to have the update page taken down before we could finish the article. Today we learned from the AT&T Facebook page that the long awaited update from Eclair to Froyo will start tomorrow, the 24th of February, 2011. No further details were given, so we don't know if this will be an over-the-air (OTA) update that will come in waves, similar to Sprint's Epic 4G update, or if it will be a manual download and install. In either case, the long wait for Froyo is almost over! Let the wait for ...

Now that Google has released Gingerbread for smartphones and Honeycomb for tablets, AT&T has finally gotten around to releasing a Froyo update for the Samsung Captivate! It sure has been a long time coming, but the day is finally here -- well, almost. For a short while an FAQ page was posted at Ars.Samsung.com detailing the Froyo update. From what we can tell it will not be an over-the-air (OTA) update, rather, it will require the use of the Samsung Kies Mini software and a computer to apply the update to your phone. While this method isn't as convenient and means that many may opt not to ...

We don't hold any punches when it comes to U.S. versions of Samsung's Galaxy S series phones having such a hard time getting Android 2.2 Froyo out to it's devices. Samsung released the Galaxy S with Android 2.1 Eclair several months ago -- right before Froyo was released. They promised owners a quick upgrade to Froyo. International users (and some U.S. users) have seen Froyo updates to their Galaxy S, but the "big 4" have seen major delays. In their defense, Samsung says the updates are ready, it's the carriers that are dragging their feet. All that aside, AT&T just went and published ...

Samsung's Galaxy S series of devices are a really big deal for the company. They represent the best engineering the company can muster both in terms of hardware and software for a smartphone device. By the holiday season of 2010, there will be a Galaxy S smarpthone on every carrier in the US, and many overseas. The first Galaxy S device out of the gate (besides the unlocked European version released last month) is the Captivate on AT&T. It boasts a speedy processor, a large Super AMOLED screen, and a lot of tweaks made to Android to make the device more interesting. Read on for our full ...

While Samsung Galaxy S devices receive Google Android 2.2 Froyo updates wordlwide and even some non-U.S. carrier variants, American versions of the smartphone offered by network operators do not. We have heard a rather interesting story from a person allegedly close to the situation and supposedly in breach of NDA that told AndroidPolice "Android 2.2 is on hold for Galaxy S phones until the U.S. carriers and Samsung reach a consensus" -- referring to what he claimed Samsung charging carriers for the update. Following up on this rumor, Samsung has made a quick note to PhoneScoop saying ...

We all know about the Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.2 Froyo saga and, while some carriers around the world already updated their variants to the second newest Google platform, we hear an interesting theory on why U.S. carriers haven't done it yet. A person allegedly close to the situation and supposedly in breach of NDA has told AndroidPolice how updates are being handled by carriers and the relationship with the manufacturers. According to the person, there are three types of updates stipulated in a contract between the manufacturer and the carrier once a device gets to the network operator: ...

The new year got off to a rocky start over at Samsung's official Twitter account, where a harmless call for New Year's resolutions resulted in a barrage of hostile replies that forced Samsung to revisit the nasty Froyo-on-Galaxy-S issue. Probably expecting folks to rehash plans to lose weight or quit smoking, Samsung was instead greeted with numerous responses centering around two themes: pleas for getting Froyo on American Galaxy S variants and vows to never buy Samsung products again. And then there was user @BlackMoonWolf, who probably spoke for many with the suggestion that Sammy ...

Samsung Galaxy S is one of the most popular Android devices ever launched and most definitely one of the most successful Samsung models ever. The model was a best seller in both its original shape as well as carrier variants worldwide (and in the U.S. as T-Mobile Vibrant, AT&T Captivate, Verizon Fascinate, Sprint Epic 4G). One of the Galaxy S' biggest flaws was that it was launched with Android 2.1 Éclair back in June 29, 2010, a time when Android 2.2 Froyo was already one month out (being launched on May 22, 2010). The lack of a software refresh, till recently, made the Samsung Galaxy S ...

If you own a Galaxy S device and have been waiting for the Froyo update to hit, you're not alone. Galaxy S owners in the US, and around the world, have had to deal with repeated unfulfilled promises from Samsung as to when the Android 2.2 update would be available. While Epic 4G owners came close with a leak, Samsung made it clear that the leaked update wasn't final. Over on XDA, the 2.2.1 update for the international Galaxy S has been leaked, and owners are reporting that it's "very fast". The leak won't work on other variants of the Galaxy S, but it shouldn't be too long until the ...

SRS Labs Dolby Labs has been working with smartphone makers for years to improve audio quality by including virtual sound processing. Turning on the sound processing can mean the difference between flat music and lively audio with bright highs and boomy lows (assuming you're using good headphones). The upcoming Desire HD is one such device that will benefit from the advanced audio processing. Also including the 5.1 virtual surround is the line of Galaxy S devices, including the US-facing Captivate, Fascinate, Vibrant and Epic 4G. To turn on the processing, hit the "5.1" button when in the ...

If you've tried fixing the GPS reception on your Samsung phone, following one of the many how-to guides for tweaking your phone's settings, there's a chance you ended up making things even worse than when they started. Samsung has now released a restore app that will undo any problems you've introduced to your phone's GPS settings. Galaxy S users may have noticed a litany of GPS issues creeping up, including slow lock times and inaccurate position data. We've posted guides that fellow users have come up with, requiring you to manually adjust phone settings. Since those early work-arounds ...